Use Eye Movement to Boost Your Creativity

Can this dot improve your creativity?

Need a creative boost? According to a recent study published in the journal Brain and Cognition, scientists may have figured out a way to dramatically increase ones creativity: “Boost the level of communication between the right and left hemispheres” of your brain.

And it may be as easy as following an object back and forth for 30 seconds.

Sixty-two subjects performed a creativity task, where they had to come up with as many alternate uses for common objects like, a paper clip, pencil, shoe, etc. as they could in one minute.

After this initial task researchers asked subjects to move their eyes to follow a target as it moved horizontally left to right for 30 seconds. This exercise is thought to increase the cross-talk between the hemispheres.

Then the subjects completed the creative task again. Results were surprising. Subjects came up with significantly more unique uses for the everyday items, than the control group who stared straight ahead.

After trying this out, I was recently able to break through a story issue that I’d been fighting with for two weeks. Placebo effect? Coincidence? Or hard science? You be the judge… and let me know if it works for you.